Meeting Evolving Customer Needs With POS Technology

By Mike Adams
Director of Retail Sales, Dell, Inc.

Point of service (POS) is approaching an inflection point in today’s retail environment. With the move to mobile devices, omnichannel experiences, and a focus on customer loyalty, more is being demanded of POS systems. Customers want to be able to have a common shopping experience regardless of which sales channel they choose. They also want that experience to be personalized, reflecting their interests and buying habits. Integration of POS with online and back end systems will allow retailers to deliver this experience.

In addition, customer-owned smartphones and retailer-owned tablets are poised to become POS stations and POS architectures will need to change to accommodate this development. It is an exciting and challenging time for store systems, and retailers need to think strategically when considering new POS solutions.

Generally, pain points and new functionalities are driving POS upgrades and replacements today. More specifically, seamless integration to online and back end systems, extending POS capabilities to mobile devices including near field communications (NFC) and mobile couponing, and maintaining PCI (payment card industry) compliance are all key drivers of POS upgrades.